Black powder firearms have been around for centuries. Over a century ago the popularity of black powder firearms began to diminish in favor of more modern firearms which used individual cartridges and higher detonation pressures and were generally cleaner and more reliable in varying types of weather. In recent years the popularity of black powder firearms for sport and recreational purposes has increased.
Many inconveniences are still associated with the use of black powder firearms. For example, black powder firearms are more dirty to operate than their modern counterparts. The black powder leaves a heavy, sooty residue which must be continuously cleaned in order to keep the firearm in proper working order. With normal operation, this sooty residue collects through the barrel and the entire ignition system. Unfortunately, conventional black powder firearms are made so that such cleaning is difficult. For example, barrels and ignition system components are difficult to access for cleaning. In addition, their removal is typically considered more appropriately a gun smith operation than a user operation.
Another inconvenience of conventional black powder firearms is their heavy weight and lengthy size when compared to modern firearms. The weight and size characteristics result, at least in part, from the use of long barrels that reside either beside a side-mounted ignition system or a considerable distance in front of an in-line ignition system.
While side-mounted ignition system black powder firearms can have some size advantages, they are undesirable because they are less reliable, have a slow lock time, and are very difficult to keep cleaned.
Conventional in-line ignition models may experience lock time benefits but typically suffer a size penalty because the hammer of the ignition system is placed a relatively long distance from the breech end of the barrel. This placement helps in-line ignition models combat the undesirable phenomenon of blow-back. Blow-back can occur at the instant of ignition when the pressure from the igniting powder forces the hammer back and allows detonation gasses to escape the ignition system. Blow-back is particularly undesirable because blow-back typically occurs in the face of the user, leaving a sooty residue on the face and posing a safety risk.
Another inconvenience of conventional black powder firearms concerns their inflexibility. Typically, different firearm uses require different firearms. For example, when a user needs black powder firearms of different calibers or different barrel rifling characteristics, the user typically is forced to have entirely different firearms to meet each need.
Another problem of conventional black powder firearms concerns their triggering mechanisms. Conventionally, lock times are undesirably slow, and the force required to cock a hammer remains relatively constant or even diminishes as a hammer pivots from a fired position to a cocked position. This poses a safety hazard because it can lead to unintentional cocking.
Another safety hazard for conventional black powder firearms concerns the mating of a breech plug to the barrel. In some conventional black powder firearms, the breech plug is permanently affixed to the barrel. This is a reasonably safe implementation, but is undesirable because it makes the barrel difficult to clean. In other conventional black powder firearms, the breech plug screws into the barrel and can be removed. This implementation may make some cleaning operations easier, but poses a safety hazard. If the firearm is significantly overcharged, the chances of the breech plug blowing away from the barrel are greater. If this happens, nothing prevents serious harm to the user.